Renovation

“Dear PoPville,

We had some damage this past week to our front bay (it’s a square bay on a 1908 Victorian row home) with the earthquake/hurricane combo. We are looking for recommendations for a mason to do above ground masonry work, including some re-pointing to our bay. In addition, we need a recommendation for someone to help with interior drywall and light structural elements as well.

Any recommendations your readers can give will be much appreciated—we are curious if anyone has done any work on their front bays or even a full bay reconstruction!”

Photo by PoPville flickr user ekelly80

“Dear PoPville,

I have a 15 year old row house that was poorly constructed. My first floor is sagging very badly and in danger of falling in. I’ve had an inspector come in and give me suggestions on what needs to be done to repair it.

On that note, I went on a site that’s very reputable and contacted a contractor to come in to take a look at it. After much investigating, photo taking and discussions, he suggested a price and said that it would take 5-8 days of jacking up the floor, replacing the joist hangers, nails, replacing the shoddy, weak cross beams with stronger grade beams, re-routing some of the plumbing that’s in the ceiling, etc. My basement is unfinished so you can see the sag, nails coming loose from the walls, etc. and it’s very easy to access the joists and make the repairs.

My question is this – he wants to do the job on a day to day basis, materials not included. While I would like to do the job at a set price. Does anyone in PoPville know if it’s a good idea to pay for a job like this on a per day basis? Or is it better to pay per the job? Finally, does anyone know of a good framing contractor who can repair a badly sagging floor.”

“Dear PoPville,

My partner and I recently excavated the original fireplace in our row house and we’re now looking for someone to build us a mantle. It will need to be custom built since the dimensions of the fireplace are somewhat irregular. We are hoping that your readers could recommend someone who would do a great job crafting a nice painted wooden mantle for our fireplace. Any help would be greatly appreciated.”

“Dear PoPville,

I live in Capitol Hill now and am looking at purchasing a home near the Congressional Cemetery. The problem is there are structural issues with the enclosed sleeping porch. I had a structural engineer there this morning. He said both the joists could be weak and the brick pillars holding up the structure might be settling. I was wondering if your readers have dealt with a similar issue? How they handled it? And if they hired contractors to fix it, are there any they’d recommend?”

I’d also be curious about cost?

“Dear PoPville,

My wife and I are contemplating adding a parking spot to our place. At present we have a small side yard that is about 60 feet long and 25 feet wide. We will lose about half the yard if we put in parking. Right now street parking is fairly easy. My questions are 1. How much does parking add to resale value and 2. How much does it add in monthly rental value? We are 10 minute walk to the metro.”

I think it would depend on how much you use the yard. If you don’t use the yard at all I would def. add one. What do you guys think? How much value do you think it would add to the house?

Photo by PoPville flickr user KJinDC

“Dear PoPville,

I am debating my next steps after a run-in with city inspectors over some work I have been doing in my basement. Now I am in the position of paying out some fines and getting permitting for some work that has already been done (including adding bathroom and doing electrical). I spoke to a third party inspector about possibly having them do the permitting paperwork and potentially using them as the inspector. I am wondering if it is a good deal or not. The initial permit price seemed high to me, I don’t have a quote on the inspection cost. Can your readers give me any tips? Anybody else been thru this process?”

Anyone use a home inspector to help with the permitting process?